1. Field of the Invention
Devices, systems, and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a connector coupling structure for coupling connectors which are used to connect a wire harness with accessories, such as audio equipment and vehicular meters, of an automotive vehicle and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional example of a connector coupling structure, in which audio equipment is mounted on an instrument panel of an automotive vehicle, a wire harness extends from a power supply to the panel, and the distal end of the wire harness is connected to a female connector, which in turn is coupled to a male connector provided on the back side of the audio equipment. A coupling operation of the male connector and the female connector is carried out at a back side of the instrument panel. After a completion of the coupling operation, the next operation, i.e., securing the audio equipment to the instrument panel is carried out. As described, such a conventional structure inevitably involves a two-step operation, and therefore, working efficiency is decreased. Moreover, a problem arises in which the wire harness has a slack due to a margin of the length thereof after installation of the audio equipment whereby abnormal noise is produced.
Therefore, structures have been developed in which positional deviation between a male connector and a female connector is absorbed by the connectors themselves in order to increase assemble-ability thereof and to realize an easy and reliable connection between the connectors. One of the structures is formed of a female connector and a male connector. The female connector consists of a housing, a guide for enabling the housing to slide, a first columnar projection provided on the guide, and a second columnar projection provided on the housing. The male connector consists of a housing for the male connector, a lever, terminals for the female connector and terminals for the male connector, both provided on the housing for the male connector, and a guidance groove for guiding the first columnar projection and the second columnar projection. Both housings are coupled by treating the first columnar projection inside the guidance groove as a point of action, by treating the second columnar projection as a power point, and by moving the housing for the female connector in a connection direction with respect to the male connector (see Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-215944 (page 4, FIG. 3)).
The above official publication discloses a male connector which is provided with two U-shaped levers disposed symmetrically with respect to one another, each lever consists of plate portions extending parallel with one another, the plate portions of the each lever are coupled to an upper surface and a lower surface of the male connector at one end side of each of the plate portions and are connected to one another at the opposite end side of the plate portions. With lever grooves formed on each lever along which the first columnar projection and the second columnar projection are guided, both connectors are coupled to one another. The levers which function as a cam are structurally important. In the conventional structure, such a cam or levers are essential parts, and therefore, there become a number of parts to be assembled, thus resulting in increased cost of production. Further, another problem arises in which the degree of freedom in design of modules is low, since such a cam or levers are substantially large.